


To Have a Home

by gateship



Series: Avengers Assemble [17]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers Tower, F/M, Tony is brash and impulsive, gratuitous quoting of The Incredibles, gratuitous use of Pym particles when it comes to Hank's lab space, references to Jan's fashion design, references to the fact that Jan's also a textile engineer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 23:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11301261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gateship/pseuds/gateship
Summary: The actual message itself was empty, as was the subject line. Jan was pretty sure it would’ve gotten shunted to the spam folder if she hadn’t input Tony’s email address into her account contacts list after the Chitauri invasion. The only actual substance to the email was a pretty hefty attachment simply labeled “Tower.”Or: Tony impulsively emails the Avengers the rough blueprints for the new and improved Avengers Tower without warning anyone about it.





	To Have a Home

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "A Very Potter Musical." Maybe the second one. I don't remember. But I have a Darren Criss problem.

The actual message itself was empty, as was the subject line. Jan was pretty sure it would’ve gotten shunted to the spam folder if she hadn’t input Tony’s email address into her account contacts list after the Chitauri invasion. The only actual substance to the email was a pretty hefty attachment simply labeled “Tower.” The file took a decent amount of time to download – enough time that she had enough time to brew coffee and return before it finished. Thirty seconds after she opened the file she regretted the cup given the coffee coating her monitor and keyboard.

“Hank! Can you get in here please?”

“What’s wrong?” Hank asked as he walked into her office. Well, it was _their_ office given how small their apartment was, but he didn’t really use it that often given his lab. “And why’s there coffee all over the place?”

“Tony wants to turn his Stark Tower into an Avengers Tower,” Jan said.

“He what?”

“He sent everyone an email with blueprints with floors for us and the legal and PR teams,” Jan said, scrolling through the file.

“Seriously?” Hank asked, leaning over the back of her chair to take a look. “Tony Stark wants me to live in the same building as him?”

“Well he has a floor labelled ‘Wasp and He who can’t choose what size he is,’ so I would assume he does,” Jan said. “I mean, it’s just a rough floor plan. You’ve got lab space set aside too on a different floor no less.”

“I – was that a floor for Coulsons?” Hank asked. “Is he serious? Should we call Pepper?”

“You want to call Jane to see if she got it too? She, Thor, and Darcy have – he has a floor for Loki and Sif. And one labelled ‘other Asgardians.’ I’m calling Pepper.”

The other woman picked up on the second ring. “Jan, hi.”

“Do you know about the new blueprints for Stark Tower?” Jan asked.

There was a pause. “Did he send those out? I told him to wait until we broached the topic with everyone.”

“Is that even legal? Won’t Stark Industries have something to say about that?” Hank asked.

“The company didn’t actually fund the building, just the power source. We have offices within the building – or we will once the building’s done. The Board approved of the name change. It gives a degree of separation between the two even with the offices within.”

“We don’t live in New York though,” Jan said.

“Ah – I did kind of have an offer from a university in the city,” Hank said.

“You didn’t tell me that,” Jan said.

“Well, the whole university thing didn’t work out the last time I tried it. But Empire State offered,” Hank said. “I don’t know how they feel now though, given the alien invasion and our participation in it.”

“I think Fury’s got someone in his pocket there,” Pepper said. “He got my sister in after their application and acceptance deadline had passed.”

Hank frowned. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”

“Carolyn must know someone,” Jan said. “And wait, didn’t the entirety of the Fantastic Four go to ESU?”

“I think Johnny dropped out, but yeah. Johnny and Sue’s father taught there too I think,” Pepper said. “There’s a few mutants that teach there too, as well as students.”

“We can discuss the moving thing later. Tony really wants everyone to move into the Tower?” Jan asked.

“We need to fix it up anyways,” Pepper said. “It was still under construction when Amora wrecked it. I have a call in ten minutes, but I’ll get a video conference set up with everyone about this. What did he even send with the blueprints?”

“Literally nothing. He sent a blank email with the blueprints as an attachment,” Jan said.  “You should probably call Porter and Sokolof and let them know about it too. I have a feeling he didn’t tell them before the email went out either. If he even sent them an email.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Pepper sighed. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Once Pepper had hung up Jan turned her chair to face Hank. “Do you want to move to New York?”

“Well, if the Avengers are actually going to be a team it might be better for us to relocate. And I got the offer from Empire State a week before everything went down. I told them we’re getting married in November and I haven’t heard back from them since then.”

“So they technically haven’t rescinded their offer,” Jan said. “If you go back to academia you’ll have funding again. And if everyone moves into the Tower you’ll have science buddies. And we won’t have to dig out the car when it snows ever again.”

“Our lives are here though.”

“Your lab is sitting on our dining room table. It is the size of a dollhouse because you shrunk it. I can work wherever and I do have to travel to New York for work. But we can talk more once everyone else weighs in.”

“I don’t like moving,” Hank said.

“I would never have guessed that,” Jan said sarcastically. “It’s not like you’ve lived in this apartment for a decade and I moved in despite having the larger apartment when we got together. You do realize we’re going to have to move once we have kids anyways, right?”

Hank frowned.

“No Pym Particles on our children.”

 

As soon as the “currently in New York” bunch of Avengers arrived at Tony’s penthouse, Jane asked, “Did any of you know about this?”

“No,” Steve said. “And I’m not sure how I feel about it.”

“Rent in Brooklyn is astronomical, you should take this,” Clint said as he carried an honest to God laundry basket with two crockpots inside to the kitchen.

“Thor touched down in Central Park a few minutes ago,” Phil said. “Agents are bringing him here as we speak.”

“He’s back?” Jane asked, brightening.

“I’m glad I brought extra food,” Carolyn said from the kitchen as she unpacked the two crockpots and the reusable shopping bags she had. “And you would’ve thought that Pepper would’ve told me there was the potential for living in the same place.”

“So, if we do this do I need a kitchen or can I just use yours?” Clint asked. “You know I can’t cook for crap.”

“You’re getting your own kitchen,” Phil said.

“Where’s Darcy?” Steve asked. “She should be here for this too. The offer was extended to her as well.”

Carolyn paused from setting out the food. “Laptop. Probably doing social media regarding Thor,” she said.

“Mr. Stark and Miss Potts are ready for the video conference now,” Jarvis said.

Clint flinched and said, “Are you gonna be in all our spaces if this Tower thing works out?”

Jarvis didn’t respond to that, but the large TV did turn on. Tony and Pepper’s image appeared on the screen and only a few seconds later a smaller picture appeared in the corner of Jan and Hank.

“Thor will be here soon,” Natasha said. “We should wait for him to get here before we talk about this.”

Darcy wandered out of the bedroom space, laptop in hand. “Yeah, but what does my new boss think of all this?”

“Both Mr. Porter and Ms. Sokolof have thoughts on the matter,” Pepper said.

“They seemed down with it,” Tony said with a shrug. “She was cranky though.”

“That’s because you called her ‘Katie,’” Pepper said. “Don’t call her that,” she directed at the camera.

“I’m sure they were both alright with the concept of putting everyone in one building,” Phil said dryly.

There was a rather loud knock on the outer door and then Thor strode into the apartment. “Jane, you are well?”

 “I’m fine,” Jane said, moving towards him. “You missed a few things while you were on Asgard.”

Thor kissed her soundly and then looked around. “Everyone else is well, yes?”

“We’re good, you want food? I brought food,” Carolyn said.

“I’ve got a new job,” Darcy said. “The Avengers have employees sort of, and Stark Tower might become Avengers Tower.”

“You are no longer working with Jane?” Thor asked.

“It’s complicated,” Jane said. “And she hasn’t started her new job yet. But Tony’s offered to have everyone live in his tower.”

“Food first,” Carolyn said.

They got settled on the couch with plates of food, quickly explaining to Thor what he’d missed in the last half month.

“So, who wants to move?” Tony asked bluntly.

“What’s your policy on pets?” Clint asked.

“Seconded,” Jan said.

“I don’t have one,” Tony said. He frowned. “Do I need one?”

“Lucky’s the best. Let Lucky live here. Please. Lucky’s better trained than Clint’s trainees are,” Carolyn said.

“I will pay you to say that to Bobbi’s face,” Natasha said.

“Lucky is a what exactly?” Tony asked.

“Dog. I’m in if my dog’s in and then you’ve just got to convince the non-SHIELD agents,” Clint said.

“Unless you’re charging rent and then he’s out,” Natasha said. “He lived with Carolyn and me for a year even though he says otherwise.”

“I wasn’t living with you,” Clint said.

“You were at our apartment every time you weren’t on a mission. You did grocery shopping for us. Your clothes were there. You did your laundry there. Your insane bow collection and half of your insane comic book collection were there,” Carolyn said. “You were living with us.”

“Yeah, are you going to charge rent?” Jan asked. “How would this work? Are you our landlord?”

“Is Jarvis going to be everywhere?” Jane asked. “Jarvis is great and all, but I don’t know how comfortable I feel with Jarvis hooked up to the whole place.”

“I’m just down with only being 12 floors away from work,” Darcy said. “Hello miniscule commute time. I mean, my name was on the Jane and Thor floor.”

“Yes, if Jane and Thor are alright with it, then you’ll be on their floor. We can work something out if they want their own space,” Pepper said.

“Providing, of course, that Jane and Thor want to share a floor,” Tony said with what he probably thought was a leer.

“Yes, Thor and I want to share a floor,” Jane said. “And yes, Darcy will be living with us if we decide to go along with this.”

“Have you told Colonel Rhodes about the fact that he’s got space in your tower?” Hank asked.

“The answer is that I have,” Pepper said. “He seems to think it’s unnecessary given that he’s stationed in California. So, no to Jarvis beyond a general security and emergency capability, then? Any other questions or concerns?”

“What will security be like?” Phil asked. “You’re essentially setting up the Avengers full time in your tower. You’ll also have aliens, the Hulk potentially, Captain America, four SHIELD agents, plus support staff. And that’s in addition to the Stark Industries offices, other companies, and retail below.”

“I already sent the blueprints – highly doctored plain boring ones anyways – to Fury so he’ll probably contact you at some point,” Carolyn said. “I mean, he was going to find out anyways. And if you are going to base a pseudo SHIELD team in it, he’ll have thoughts.”

“I don’t want him to have access to my—our tower,” Tony corrected. “But a lot of security. All the security.”

“Fury’s also been getting murmurs about whether or not Amora and Skurge should have been taken to Asgard for trial or not. Asgard isn’t a recognized sovereign power anywhere on Earth,” Phil said.

“Amora is Asgardian and her trial should have been on Asgard,” Thor said.

“Which is why the Director had you take the two of them and the Tesseract back to Asgard as soon as could be arranged,” Phil said. “There’s also talk regarding how he allowed you to take the Tesseract as well.”

“Who exactly is unhappy with this?” Thor asked.

“The World Security Council,” Clint said. “They’re also the ones that launched the nuke.”

“Well, I imagine that having Asgard become a recognized sovereign power can be done, even if it does sound complicated,” Pepper said. “It would cause potential issues with any Asgardian residency. I’m sure Ms. Sokolof might have some ideas though.”

“There’s probably gonna need to be an Embassy. And visits of State to other countries,” Darcy said. “And arguments about why Asgardians are living in America versus other countries, press releases regarding Asgardian customs, then there’s Scandinavia to take into consideration, and diplomatic immunity…” she trailed off.

“We’ll bring that up with the appropriate people,” Natasha said.

“Alright, any other thoughts?” Pepper asked.

“Why is there a pool on the roof?” Clint asked. “I’m not complaining, I just want to know why.”

“Structural integrity,” Tony said. “Helps to weigh down the building and prevent swaying.”

“That doesn’t sound scary at all,” Jan said.

“I’m grateful for the offer, but I don’t know how comfortable I feel about all of this,” Steve said.

“Take the free housing,” Clint said.

“I mean, I just don’t see how this is going to work exactly,” Hank said. “We barely got along when the fate of the world was at stake. How do you expect us to get along when we live an elevator ride away from one another?”

“Stress,” Tony said. He shrugged. “I still think you’re an idealistic asshole who needs a hard dose of reality.”

Jan slapped her hand over Hank’s mouth before he could respond. “You’re both assholes. You’ll make each other better or some crap. You’ll get along better with continued exposure and when you aren’t trying to save the world from an alien invasion.”

“I am grateful you are offering your home to us,” Thor said.

“Why do I have a lab by the way?” Jan asked.

“R and D, lab space, all that’s negotiable,” Tony said. “But you’re basically a textile engineer, right? Don’t you need space for that? Use it as an art studio if you want.”

Jan looked pleased. “Nobody ever thinks of me as a textile engineer, just a fashion designer,” she said.

“But you are,” Steve said. “I realized that pretty quick. I mean, _The Incredibles_ introduced me to the concept of one, but if you designed your suit and Hank’s…” He shrugged.

“You watched _The Incredibles_?” Hank asked.

“I have a list of mandatory things to catch up on,” Steve said wryly.

“And _The Incredibles_ merited it?” Natasha asked incredulously.

“Someone stocked my apartment with DVDs,” Steve said, looking at Carolyn.

“Where is my super suit?” Darcy murmured.

“I, uh, put it away,” Clint said.

Darcy looked at him and Natasha groaned. “ _Where_?”

“ _Why_ do you need to know?” Clint asked.

“I need it!”

“Uh-uh! Don’t you even think of runnin off and doing no derring-do! We’ve been planning this dinner for two months!”

On the screen, Tony was looking back and forth between the two of them in utter bafflement.

“The public is in danger!”

“My _evening_ is in danger!”

“You tell me where my suit is, woman!” Darcy shouted at Clint. “We are talking about the _greater good_!”

“ _Greater good?!_ ” Clint shouted back. “I am your wife! I am the greatest _good_ you are _ever_ gonna get!”

“What the hell was that?” Tony asked.

“ _The Incredibles_ ,” Pepper said. “I’ll get Jarvis to download it if you want.”

“No, you know, I think I’m good,” Tony said.

“That movie is a cinematic masterpiece,” Clint said. “And it deals with the problems we’d have without Sokolof and Porter.”

“And me,” Darcy said. “Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl didn’t have social media accounts. Hey, when are you two coming back to New York?” she asked Tony and Pepper.

“We actually leave in a few hours,” Pepper said.

“Viewing party?” Darcy asked. “Thor’s never seen it either.”

“No, I’m really fine,” Tony said.

Darcy patted Thor’s arm. “You’ll love it. We’ll watch it when everyone leaves.”

“Oh, I’m staying,” Clint said.

Natasha rolled her eyes and asked, “Do you really think Banner’s going to move in?”

“Doesn’t hurt to offer him space,” Tony said.

She shrugged. “I’m in.”

“Who’s paying for it all exactly? Because I have expensive tastes when it comes to kitchens,” Carolyn said. “And if we’re not paying you rent then I will sink all of our money into my dream kitchen.”

“No we won’t,” Phil said.

“I’ll help pay for your kitchen. I don’t need one,” Clint said. “I can survive with just a fridge.”

“I don’t need a kitchen either,” Natasha said.

“You’re all getting your own damn kitchens,” Carolyn muttered.

“You can design your own space,” Tony said. “The blueprints were just guidelines. Half of it needs to be rebuilt anyways. And the half that doesn’t wasn’t finished in the first place.”

“Didn’t you say there were nine floors of R&D?” Hank asked.

“I ditched one so we could have a secure lobby entrance separate from the rest of the building,” Tony shrugged.

“I think nine floors of lab space is more than enough,” Jan said. “Especially since your lab is currently sitting on our dining room table.”

“It’s what?” Jane asked.

“I shrunk it,” Hank said. “I don’t have access to the University’s lab space anymore.”

“What are you going to do about Culver?” Darcy asked. “You’ve not teaching this fall because you’re still on your research grant, but won’t they want you to teach eventually?”

“If we accept the housing offer we don’t have to live here all the time,” Jane said. “And Culver does offer online courses.”

“Yeah, for intro level stuff. Not your level of astrophysics,” Darcy said. “And you’re accepting so my commute to work is going to be five minutes.”

“Any other questions?” Pepper asked. “The arc reactor will take care of electricity for the next year or so and then another one will need to be installed, but water and gas will need to be hooked up to each floor.”

“Do we get laundry on our own floors?” Clint asked.

“You barely do your own laundry,” Natasha said.

“Well, when I decide to do it I don’t want to take it downstairs,” Clint said.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Fury’s and Ms. Sokolof’s input before we agree to this wholesale?” Steve asked.

Phil’s phone buzzed and Carolyn snorted. Phil looked dismayed when he read the message. “The Director is approving the plan once he sees the security protocols. And he says if the Avengers are all going to live in the same building that I am…”

“He’s your SHIELD liason and babysitter now,” Carolyn finished.

Tony made a face. “Well. I guess you’re better than other options.”

“Yeah, Stark, you could have me,” Natasha said.

“Who’s going to be CO of Field Operations then?” Clint asked. “He’s shifting you sideways to being, what, CO of Avengers Operations or something?”

“He’s going to have to either promote someone from our offices or bring someone in from another branch,” Phil said. “I can think of a few people, but I know one of them will say no before she’s even asked.”

“Oh man, but that would be both great and terrifying to have the Cavalry as CO of Field Ops,” Clint said.

“And who exactly is that?” Steve asked.

“Legendary agent who’s no longer on field duty,” Clint said. “Reasons why are top clearance levels. Beyond even what Nat and I have.” Half of everyone looked towards Phil. He stared back at them blandly. “But _you_ were on the last mission with her.”

“And it’s above your clearance level,” Phil told them. “End of discussion.”

“Seriously though, are you like in charge of us now or something?” Tony asked. “Because I didn’t sign up for that. I’m a _consultant_.”

“I imagine that I’ll ostensibly be in charge of coordinating missions, acting as a go between for the Avengers and SHIELD, and most likely oversee the PR and Legal departments. Though Fury has scheduled a meeting for tomorrow presumably to outline my new duties and discuss my replacement.”

“Hey, quick question, Stark,” Clint asked, turning back to the screen. “What’s going to be the policy on visitors?”

“What do you mean?” Pepper asked.

“Well, how’s security going to work for people who don’t work in the PR and Legal departments and aren’t living there?” Clint asked. “And who aren’t SHIELD agents.”

“That’s all something that we’ll work out together,” Pepper said. “But not right at this moment.”

“I’m pretty sure Kate could get in regardless of whatever security measures are in place,” Natasha said. “She has been taught by the best.”

“Again, who’s Kate?” Tony asked. “Nobody explained that one.”

“Clint’s trainee,” Carolyn said. “The non-SHIELD one anyways. I imagine you’ll want only certain SHIELD agents to have access rather than everyone and anyone. I know you’ve got security down in the main lobby of the retail space as well as the Stark Industries floors, but we should think about having security on the entrance floor of Avengers space. Have that a little more public than the floors above, living spaces the most secure, and so on.”

“We’re going to need to hire so many people,” Pepper sighed.

“Actually, depending on how involved you want SHIELD with all of this you may be able to shift some people from the New York offices,” Phil said. “Fury will want them to undergo the same screening as SHIELD agents regardless.”

“Okay. That’s certainly something to think about,” Pepper said quickly when Tony looked like he was going to interject. “Again, something to discuss at another time. Why don’t we call it for now and everyone can come up with questions, concerns, thoughts, anything. We can discuss it in person when we arrive or tomorrow. Email might be better though, just to consolidate everything. We do also have the Fourth of July part in a few days. Phil, if you’ll send me the relevant information on your new position? And I’ll keep Ms. Sokolof and Mr. Porter updated as well.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jan said. She looked at Hank. “You do realize this means you’re going to have more playdates with Reed so Sue and I can go shopping, right?”

“I like the sound of that plan,” Pepper said.

“Wait, I don’t. I don’t like the sound of that at all,” Tony said.

**Author's Note:**

> I think about The Incredibles a lot when watching superhero movies. And Powerless now too.


End file.
